State-of-the-Least-Developed-Countries-Report-2014

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Despite stagnation in the value of total LDC exports and imports, the share of these countries in total trade remained virtually the same as in 2011. The LDCs had 1.13 per cent of the world’s exports of goods and services, a long way from the target of 2 per cent to be achieved by 2020. The composition of exports continued to be dominated by primary commodities, which accounted for 79 per cent of exports of goods in 2012, slightly above 77 per cent in 2010. Exports of manufactured goods rose, but at a slower rate than that of primary commodities, therefore resulting in the declining share of these goods in total exports. Exports of manufactured goods are dominated by textiles and clothing at 64 per cent of the total. In a continued shift that started more than a decade ago, a growing share of LDC exports went to developing countries. As a result, the market share of this group of countries in LDC total exports climbed to 52 per cent in 2012 from 40 per cent in 2000. The rate of progress by developed countries in extending market access to the LDCs slowed somewhat in 2011 compared to previous years. The share of LDC exports benefitting from duty-free treatment edged up to 83 per cent in 2011, from an average of 80 per cent between 2005 and 2010. Part of the reason was that the majority of developed countries extended full or virtually full market access to all LDCs. Developing and emerging economies continued to grant improved market access for LDC products. A number of these countries—including India and the Republic of Korea—granted trade preferences comparable to those extended by developed countries. China committed to offering duty-free and quota-free privileges to 97 per cent of LDC exports by 2015, up from the current level of 60 per cent. At the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the WTO, held in Indonesia in 2013, WTO members reaffirmed their commitment to duty-free, quota-free market access for the LDCs. They agreed that the 15-year service waiver should be operationalized, and that the new Aid for Trade work programme should be informed by the post-2015 development agenda. An agreement on trade facilitation may also benefit the LDCs. All of these agreements, if implemented, will be an important step towards improving LDC market access. 1.3.4 Commodities Although the full extent of economic diversification and structural transformation manifests only in the medium and long term, preliminary indications suggest that progress was slow and, sometimes, absent, in the majority of the LDCs. As indicated earlier, most LDC exports in 2012 included a limited set of traditional primary products. Almost 80 per cent of exports of goods involved primary commodities. This mirrors to a large extent the production base of the LDCs. Their economies are mostly dominated by natural resource-based sectors with limited technology spillovers or opportunities for productivity growth and quality upgrading. The share of these sectors has even grown over the last decade, moving from 67 per cent in 2001 to 79 per cent in 2012, bolstered in part by the commodity price boom. By contrast, manufacturing—a good measure of success for economic diversification and structural transformation— stagnated at less than 10 per cent of GDP in the LDCs. There have been some successes, however. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania have developed new sectors of their economies, and/or achieved a more balanced mix of existing ones in favour of higher value added, and/or upgraded the quality of products and services being produced. These changes have been accompanied by similar shifts in the composition of exports. Successes also come with some challenges, particularly in countries where growth seems to have reached its limits after several years of remarkable gains. One challenge is to move to industries with higher value added in terms of technology. 1.3.5 Human and social development 1.3.5.1 Education and training Due to sustained attention both at the national and global levels, primary school enrolment rates continued to rise in most LDCs. Net primary enrolment increased from 78 per cent in 2010 to 81 per cent from 2011-2012. Progress was 11
all the more remarkable in Burkina Faso and Niger, both of which started off with very low percentages of children in primary school. Improvements in primary school completion rates did not match the pace at which enrolment expanded. The aggregate scorecard on completion masks the significant achievements of a few countries, however. Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Rwanda were among the three countries that recorded the strongest reduction in primary dropouts (UNESCO, 2013). Aggregate completion rates also conceal wide variations across various socio-economic groups. Female students, students from poor households, those living in rural areas and those with disabilities were less likely to finish primary education. Despite better primary enrolment rates and even the attainment of gender parity in primary education in some LDCs, the quality of education has not kept pace. The speed of teacher recruitment did not follow the influx of students, leading to an increased pupil/teacher ratio; the LDC average jumped from 33 pupils per teacher in 2005 to 43 in 2011-2012. Among existing teachers and those newly recruited, a limited number had been trained and possessed the minimum qualifications. The percentage of trained teachers out of the total was below 50 per cent in Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Insufficient textbooks and weak infrastructure also constrained learning. Only 3.5 per cent of all Tanzanian sixth-graders owned a reading textbook, for instance (SACMEQ, 2010). All in all, poor teacher qualifications, inadequate teaching equipment and increased class size conspired to hamper the quality of education. Factors that hindered enrolment and learning in primary education were also common, albeit more pronounced in some instances, in secondary, vocational and technical, and tertiary education. As a result, enrolment rates were modest and declined sharply moving up the educational ladder. Combined with the limited quality of education, this situation has led to insufficient learning and skill development among students expected to enter the labour force. 1.3.5.2 Population and primary health Child mortality rates declined in most LDCs, although often at paces below those required to achieve the MDG target reaffirmed in the Istanbul Programme of Action: to reduce under-five child mortality by two-thirds from 1990 to 2015. Average under-five child mortality in the LDCs was estimated at 85 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2012—a level far above the average in other developing countries. Against generally low progress in reducing death during childhood, there were a few exceptions. A number of countries with initially high child mortality rates have made long strides in child survival, therefore showing that the MDG target is reachable with the right policies and interventions. Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Liberia have already met the target, while Bhutan, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda have reduced their child mortality rates by 60 per cent or more (United Nations, 2013b). Factors behind these gains have varied but could be grouped into the following: stronger national health systems, better nutrition of children and mothers, greater access to reproductive health, expansion of immunization programmes, better health infrastructure, and improved basic health care for children and mothers. Changes in maternal mortality rates paralleled under-five mortality rates, given similar drivers for both issues. All countries that did very well in increasing child survival—plus a few others—also made good progress in reducing maternal mortality. Only Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea and Nepal have already achieved the MDG target of cutting maternal mortality rates by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015, however (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and World Bank, 2012). The prevalence of HIV has declined marginally, from 2.07 per cent of the population aged 15-49 in 2010 to 2 per cent in 2012. Virtually unchanged prevalence rates imply that the absolute number of people affected by HIV/ AIDS continued to increase. A few LDCs—Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia—still record double-digit prevalence rates, among the highest in the world. Mortality rates among people living with HIV have fallen given greater access to antiretroviral drugs. Cambodia, Rwanda and Zambia secured access to antiretroviral therapy for at 12
Page 2: STATE OF THE LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTR
Page 5 and 6: ACRONYMS DAC EITI FAO FDI GDP GNI G
Page 7 and 8: The report, based on country level
Page 9 and 10: de promouvoir l’ordre du jour de
Page 11 and 12: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was pr
Page 14: PART 1 PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATI
Page 17 and 18: agricultural production. South Suda
Page 19 and 20: The use of Internet services, altho
Page 21 and 22: Beyond the structural challenges as
Page 23: Some institutional and regulatory p
Page 27 and 28: governments only. Success has been
Page 29 and 30: Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, w
Page 31 and 32: a decline was even more pronounced
Page 33 and 34: through streamlining tax and custom
Page 35 and 36: North and South have helped in unde
Page 38 and 39: 2.1 INTRODUCTION: THE LDCS AND THE
Page 40 and 41: Source: World Bank, 2014a. Figure 2
Page 42 and 43: Table 2.1: Annual growth of poverty
Page 44 and 45: Table 2.2: Contributions of growth
Page 46 and 47: for the growth process (see the tec
Page 48 and 49: values of 0.56 and 0.64, respective
Page 50 and 51: 2.3.4 Infrastructure and service de
Page 52 and 53: More inclusive growth would have a
Page 54 and 55: Differences in structural change ar
Page 56 and 57: health and education of children, a
Page 58 and 59: The Cotonou Agenda called upon WTO
Page 60 and 61: ANNEXES STATISTICAL ANNEXES Table A
Page 62 and 63: Table A2.1 Productive capacity Valu
Page 64 and 65: Table A2.2 Productive capacity Inte
Page 66 and 67: Table A2.3 Productive capacity Ener
Page 68 and 69: Table A3 Agriculture, food security
Page 70 and 71: Table A4 Trade and commodities Perc
Page 72 and 73: Table A5.1 Human development Educat
Page 74 and 75:
Table A5.2 Human development Popula
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Table A5.3 Human development Youth
Page 78 and 79:
Table A5.4 Human development Shelte
Page 80 and 81:
Table A5.5 Human development Gender
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Table A6 Multiple crises and emergi
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Table A7 Mobilizing financial resou
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Table A8 Aid from OECD/DAC countrie
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Average, Africa 30 30 0 -24 Asia an
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Table B2 Poverty measures, income a
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Niger 2005 65.88 28.08 15.12 41.46
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Table B4 The LDCs vs. developing co
Page 96 and 97:
Table B6 Income and inequality elas
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85
Page 100 and 101:
87
Page 102 and 103:
TECHNICAL NOTE: DEFINITION OF VARIA
Page 104 and 105:
REFERENCES Acemuglu, D., S. Johnson
Page 106 and 107:
1, pp. 1-22. Oxford: Oxford Univers
Page 108 and 109:
Tshering, S., and B. Tamang (2004).
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